An Eighth Shot of Espresso: Coffee and Creativity on Mum's Third Shift

you can be in a crowd  and yet feel lonesome  all the conversations  swirling around you  but you take part in none  and it is as if they do not see  that you are standing there and they speak as if you aren't even present  you are invisible to them perhaps you are truly a ghost who walks among them all but unlike a disembodied spirit you still feel the sting of isolation

Leave your dirty sneakers there outside by the door  the toes facing outward towards the porch steps put on these house slippers  try not to track dirt  onto the freshly washed floor it's more than convenience   a family tradition  from time immemorial ingrained in my blood  one that I follow quite closely

I. the roller coaster  slowly climbs to the apex heartbeat races fast  what rises will always fall  the thrill of gravity's gift II. throw your hands up high the wind rushes through your hair hear the screams of glee the excitement in your blood just for this very moment III. the ride slowing down return to reality one fleeting moment you are one with the cosmos perhaps you will go again

Dial the number it starts with  555  ends with 1234 The play phone rings  and the little girl  answers it  with professional tone prim and proper  after all it is the lunch hour  at her plushie cafe  and the cat  and the duck  are waiting  for their food today. She scribbles your order says her alligator will bring your food about an hour or so You end up with chicken  and a slice of cake and maybe a cherry or two.

Truth is often  stranger than fiction  and every word  out of her mouth  sounds like a lie  so egregious  so cutting  and to the point  yet eventually  it is the truth  Rarely do such revelations mean to spare the feelings of the one who asks. what to believe  who to trust  when she tells me  how things happened  and they really did. They ask me would you rather have the truth or the lie I always tell them at least I know.

You cannot force growth  and expect it to become  everything you want it  whole and perfect  Something has to give the flaw may or may not lie within the object or the creator's desires A cycle repeats over and over until the weight tips to one side or the other Nature has a way  of finding a balance  despite all the desires  of an impatient man